


The Note

by songmingis



Category: Johfam, NCT (Band), SM Rookies, SMTown
Genre: Adorable, Angst with a Happy Ending, Awkward Mark Lee (NCT), Birthday Fluff, Birthday Party, Boys Kissing, Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten is Whipped, Crushes, Denial of Feelings, Developing Relationship, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Hugs, M/M, Mark Lee & Suh Youngho | Johnny Are Best Friends, Morning Cuddles, Requited Love, Sexuality Crisis, Sleepy Cuddles, Suh Youngho | Johnny is Whipped, Sweet Mark Lee (NCT), Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:27:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28058394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/songmingis/pseuds/songmingis
Summary: It’s Johnny’s birthday and the boys are celebrating together. Everything is going smoothly until he and Mark come across a blue sticky note left by none other than Ten. Mixed feelings and chaos ensue.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Mark Lee/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 1
Kudos: 29





	The Note

**Author's Note:**

> heavily inspired by SMROOKIES_JOHNNY'S BIRTHDAY MISSION and the iconic note left by chittaphon. 
> 
> "i want to have xxxx with you fatass!!!! love you forever darling ^^3 ^^3"

It was Johnny’s twentieth birthday. And he was celebrating it in Korea, without his family. Even though this wasn’t the first time he had this experience, it never got any easier or less emotional to go through. He missed his hometown, his close friends, and his family more than he could ever express to the other trainees, especially the ones born and raised in Korea. Another year without his mother’s delicious homemade miyeok guk and tteokbokki made Johnny’s heart ache, but Doyoung and Taeyong’s version was an okay replacement. He was always thankful for the other SM Rookies’ efforts to curb his homesickness, specifically during birthdays and holidays. 

Mark was the first to wish Johnny a happy birthday, as the two stayed up together until midnight watching random YouTube videos and eating sliced watermelon. Six hours later, Mark congratulated Johnny once again on their way to dance practice with the others. It was painfully early in the morning by the time the rookies all started stretching and warming up together, but that was just the life of a SM trainee. Johnny, Jaehyun, and Mark practiced one of their choreographies for an hour or so, with little to no buzz about Johnny’s birthday. It didn’t bother him, though, since this happened every year: the boys would pretend to forget all about Johnny, when in reality they were planning a surprise behind his back. Mark was too soft for that, so he never played along with the forgetful bit of the day. 

Thankfully, it was time for the boys’ breakfast, so the “foreign swaggers” made their way to the dorm kitchen, meeting up with everyone. Well, nearly everyone. Johnny looked around for Ten, to no avail. He wondered if he overslept or something, which was unlike him. Johnny asked Taeyong if he knew of his whereabouts, but he just shrugged.

As soon as Johnny pulled his phone out of his back pocket to text his friend to ask if he was alright, Ten strolled into the room, taking a seat right next to Johnny, opposite of Mark. He said nothing while fixing his plate, almost obnoxiously ignoring Johnny despite being within a foot of him. Even though Johnny knew deep down that Ten was just playing along with their fellow bandmates’ shenanigans, he was still a little hurt, for reasons Johnny himself couldn’t understand. Ten was usually so clingy with the taller man, almost never giving him room to breathe comfortably. But now, there he was; he was sitting so close to Johnny, yet so far away. 

Mark must have read his best friend’s facial expression from across the table, timidly coughing to catch the attention of those at the table, “Hey, uh since it’s Johnny-hyung’s birthday, should we get out the seaweed soup? Doyoung?” the young boy looked up at him with his sweet brown eyes.

“Mark, Taeyong is making it right now. Do you not see him slaying over the stove right now,” Doyoung joked with him, nudging him with his elbow, “He should be done soon, Markie, relax, okay?” Mark laughed and agreed. 

“Oh. It’s your birthday, John?” Ten asked, still playing up his nonchalant facade, “Guess I forgot,” he shrugged and went to take a drink of his green tea, seemingly holding his act together, until Johnny glared at him. Ten went to laugh, but instead snorted on his hot drink, exclaiming in pain. 

“Karma’s on my side today, I guess,” Johnny mumbled. 

“You know I didn’t actually forget, man. I was just messing around.”

“I know,” Johnny pretended to be unbothered, but again, he was more upset than he should be. He decided to just keep playing along, knowing he was just being ridiculous. 

Taeyong brought the pot of soup to the table, carefully setting the steaming object on top of a placemat given to them by Hansol’s mother. “Eat up, boys! Happy birthday, Johnny,” the leader gently kissed the top of the birthday boy’s head, lazily placing an arm over his shoulders. Johnny expressed his gratitude to everyone around him, especially Taeyong for taking time out of his day just for him. 

With Johnny’s birthday finally starting to be acknowledged, the energy was more relaxed and comfortable. The boys were having lively conversations with one another, laughing at seemingly nothing, then laughing more at the realization of their ridiculousness. It felt good to just relax for once; they had all been preparing day and night for their upcoming debut, leading to anxiety and fatigue for all of them. It was honestly a sad sight to see, but it was forgotten in the warm atmosphere. Johnny felt that he could just soak up this moment forever, laughing with his friends, reminiscing about their times together, looking over at Ten, watching the way he smiled - his eyes turning into crescent moons and his lips turning up at the corners. 

_ Wait, what?  _ Johnny tried to shake the thought. He never liked thinking about his confusing feelings for one of his best friends, especially not on his special day. He failed, though, continuing to sneak glances at the Thai boy who filled his heart with happiness day after day. 

\---

The rookies’ manager told them that they were going to be shooting a video for their YouTube channel instead of practicing for the rest of the day. This announcement was obviously met with lots of excited cheers and shocked faces. They were basically having a day off just to celebrate Johnny’s birthday!

Mark grabbed one of his cameras to film the birthday video with, excited to show Johnny all of the surprises the others orchestrated for him throughout the past few days. The plan, and now video, began with Johnny sitting in one of the dance practice rooms while the others got ready. They hung up sticky notes all around their rooms, putting their heartfelt messages for their hyung on them. Then, Mark was going to lead his favorite older brother around the company building on a sort of mission to find all of the surprises. After hopefully feeling the love from his dongsaengs, Johnny was going to get a celebration with cake at the end. 

It was go time! Mark greeted Johnny with the camera, excitedly explaining the mission card that was handed to him. The two happily waltzed around the SM building in search of the hidden notes. Johnny was so thankful for his friends, even if at first their bonds were formed through proximity; they have all grown to truly love and care for each other over the years. 

The first set of notes were from Hansol and Ten. Johnny read aloud Hansol’s message, which was a sweet encouragement for the years to come. After clearing up some confusion with the mission, Johnny understood that he needed to collect the notes and take them with him until the end of the celebration. Next was Ten’s note; why was Johnny nervous? He had no idea, but he started to read it anyway. 

“I want to have,” Johnny’s breath hitched in his throat and he paused, “Uh, I don’t think we should read that,” he was freaking out. Of course, Mark agreed with him, giggling like an immature little kid (possibly because he still kind of was one), making a point to say that there were ‘x’s written on the paper. Johnny felt like the room was getting hotter by the second. Ten was obviously joking, right?

“But it’s from Ten, though,” Johnny laughed, hoping to keep his cool in front of the camera, despite feeling so many emotions at once. 

Mark didn’t notice anything, so he continued filming and leading Johnny to find more of the sticky notes stuck on everything imaginable, such as the ceiling. Thankfully Johnny was tall enough to reach it and ended up bringing all of the notes with him, still unaware of what was to come, and overwhelmed with his confusion about Ten. 

Doyoung and Jaehyun met Johnny at the entryway to a common room in the building, covering his eyes until he sat down in one of the company chairs. A video of his mother singing him happy birthday and wishing him well began playing, leaving Johnny in tears. No matter how stressed he would get, nothing would make Johnny more emotional than seeing his mom. He loved her so much it hurt, and missed her even more. All thoughts of Ten were seemingly swiped from his memory, until the rookies came into the room cheering and clapping. Of course, in his already emotionally vulnerable state, Ten just had to stand the closest to him. 

Taeyong and Haechan brought the birthday cake to Johnny’s place at the table. It was chocolate with vanilla frosting and blue writing.  _ Happy Birthday, Hyung! _ Even in the medium it was written, Johnny could tell it was Ten that had decorated the cake. The boys began to sing to Johnny, but all he could think about was how fucking confused he was to be in this situation. His best friend that he may or may not have feelings for wrote such a suggestive note to him, where anyone could see. As he was blowing out the candles, Johnny wished to understand his feelings for Ten, but most of all, he wished that everything would be okay. He never wanted to lose Ten. No matter what. 

The day continued rather uneventfully, the boys just hanging out and playing mafia and singing karaoke. Johnny could not keep his eyes off of Ten, resulting in some questioning glances from Mark, who noticed Johnny wasn’t nailing the EXO songs like he usually did. By the time everyone was getting tired from the festivities, Johnny had not felt any less distressed about the whole situation. Ten came to hug Johnny goodnight, and the American did not want to let go. He hugged him a little tighter than he normally did, before they both were off to their respective rooms. 

There was no use denying it anymore. Johnny had feelings for Ten. Images of the blue note danced around his eyelids while he was trying to fall asleep. ‘Love you forever, darling’ was the last thing Johnny saw before he succumbed to his exhaustion. 


End file.
